Just a very quick update from gloriously sunny Sonoma, where the 2010 Passport event has just concluded. It was another smashing success, and over the last two days we fed a staggering 1,200 people. Michele was amazing as usual, and so were my in-laws Peggy and Al who always come through like champs.
And now my favorite part of the weekend – a quintessentially-Sonoma, post-Passport dinner with winemaker extraordinaire, Bill Frick and his family. We get to relax, trade war stories and a few laughs, and enjoy some of the best food and wine anywhere on earth. We'll be back in the city tomorrow, so stay tuned for a proper recap, and a bunch of exciting new videos!
This wisteria-draped wine barn was where we paired the food and wine, and my only regret is that I couldn't have taken this photo in the proper light.
P.S. I haven't even begun to catch up on emails and comments, so if you are waiting for a reply, thanks for your patience, and check back in if you don't hear from me. Thanks!
Michele and I are getting ready to head north for a huge catering event this weekend in Sonoma. If you've been following this blog for awhile, I'm sure you've read about this before. It’s called “Passport to Dry Creek Valley,” which is an annual event showing off the great wines and vineyards of the beautiful Dry Creek Valley.
We'll be doing the food for our friend Bill Frick, at the gorgeous Frick Winery for the 14th year in a row! Despite all the planning and prep, it's a ton of fun, and we look forward to it every spring. This photo is the winery's tasting room where all the food magic happens.
This is one of Sonoma's premiere wine/food events, and thousands of wine enthusiasts will be eating and sipping their way through the valley. By the way, if you have a chance, check out the Frick Winery website. Bill produces some of the most delicious wine in California.
Due to the limited time, there will probably not be any new videos until after the weekend. This will be the perfect time to review your favorite recipes and make sure you haven't missed any. Don't forget to use the search box in the bar at the top left of the window, to find the recipes you are interested in.
For whatever reason, I've never filmed any how-to's for the appetizer recipes that we've served up there over the years, except for these Calabrese Lollipops. It's an old video, but with backyard party season coming on fast, you may find this quick and easy bite a real nice addition to your repertoire. Enjoy!
Unlike most of America's regional culinary specialties, the origins of the Cornell chicken recipe are undisputed. According to nearly all reports, as well as the college itself, this famous grilled chicken recipe was created by Dr. Robert C. Baker, Professor of Animal Sciences at New York's Cornell University.
They say Dr. Baker was simply trying to invent an easy and delicious way to grill smaller, younger chickens, so that the local chicken farms could sell more birds, sell them sooner, and more affordably. The doc's tasty recipe ended up being such a success that sales in the area soared, and the recipe became a statewide favorite.
While that all makes sense, there was something that just seemed to be a bit odd. I mean, why would a college professor be so unusually motivated to increase chicken sales? Then I thought, what if he had no choice? Maybe I've been watching too many straight-to-cable movies, but what if the real story was much more sinister and diabolical.
What if Dr. Baker just didn't love chickens, but really, really, "loved" chickens? What if someone inside the local poultry industry found out about the professor's "love" and blackmailed him into devoting his life's work to promoting the succulent grilling of their chickens. That's completely insane, you say? Well, is it? Is it? Yes, actually that is ridiculous. Never mind.
Anyway, the results of my Cornell chicken experiment were exceptional. I love this basing sauce. The combination of the egg, oil, and vinegar created a super flavorful, and very moist chicken. I used the original recipe "as is," but as I explain in the video, Dr. Baker's method was intended to be done over a barbecue pit. If you want to see his original plans, you can see them here on the Cornell University website.
I have a bunch of the sauce leftover, so I'm excited to play around with some different variations, so stay tuned for that. I hope you give this a try, since grilling season will soon be in full swing, and you can never have too many ways to do chicken. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 2 cups cider vinegar 1 cup vegetable oil 1 egg 3 tablespoons salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
After an exhaustive half-day of research, I dove right into the strange and mysterious Cornell chicken recipe. I was very excited by the results. Stay tuned!
I'm planning to do a video recipe for Cornell chicken, so if you have any information, tips, secrets, anecdotes, memories, or other pertinent details, I'd love to hear about it! In case you've never heard of Cornell chicken, here's a little video tease I found on someone called skeeler1954's YouTube channel. By the way, as someone who appreciates a well-done voice-over, the British narrator in this clip is awesome.
If you're from upstate or western New York, and feel like getting all nostalgic, you may want to take a peak at the other videos posted there. Enjoy!
If you know someone from Buffalo, they know someone who told them the secret ingredients to the Anchor Bar's famous Buffalo chicken wings. I know people from Buffalo. This is my version, as described to me many years ago, over almost as many beers.
Now that we've established it's absolute validity, I should tell you, I'm not a huge fan. Just because a recipe is authentic, doesn’t mean it's a great recipe. Don't get me wrong, I've never turned down plate of Buffalo-style chicken wings, I'm just saying there are about 20 wings sauce recipes I like better (like the ones I've already posted on the blog - see below)
Having said that, people really seem to love these, and I encourage you to give them a try. The wings are always fried in Buffalo, but a really hot oven works just fine.
Ingredients: 2/3 cup Frank's Louisiana hot sauce 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce (like the Sriracha I used) 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder salt to taste
I can't believe that after three years of doing video recipes on this blog, I've never shown you my Buffalo chicken wing sauce! Later today (or maybe early tomorrow), I will.
